Netherlands-based avocado company Nature's Pride has announced a partnership with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to improve health by promoting better nutrition of workers in the fruit and vegetable sector.

The partnership involves multiple tiers. One includes translating GAIN’s Nutrition at Work Handbook into four languages and then making it publicly available.

The partnership will also promote better nutrition in the fruit and vegetable sector through a series of webinars and articles. Finally, Nature’s Pride will roll out workforce nutrition program with growers in Peru and South Africa.

"We are delighted with this new partnership’, said Lynnette Neufeld, GAIN’s Director of Knowledge Leadership, ‘Fruit and vegetables are at the heart of healthy diets, and we hope that through this partnership with one of Europe’s leading fruit and veg suppliers we can raise awareness and catalyse action to improve workforce nutrition in the global fruit and vegetable sector,” she says.

“The partnership with Nature’s Pride also aims to demonstrate that improving workers’ nutrition is a desirable and necessary part of any truly sustainable business.’

Coen van Iwaarden from NPF said: "Right from the first conversation there was a perfect ‘click’".

"This partnership enables us to put into practice what we believe in: contribute to a healthier world by working with expert partners such as GAIN and building on Nature’s Pride’s global network of dedicated growers," Van Iwaarden said.

"It’s very exciting to make GAIN’s excellent Nutrition at Work Handbook globally available and, at the same time, start working with it ourselves with growers in Peru and South Africa. Together we can make a big positive impact."

Good nutrition is the foundation of health and therefore a better quality of life. Globally, 1 in 3 people suffer from at least one type of malnutrition.

This significantly impacts their quality of life and poses challenges to employers in terms of lost productivity and potential. Given that 58% of the world’s population will spend one-third of their time at work during their adult life, occupational health is a critical determinant of overall wellbeing.

The Nutrition at Work Handbook was developed by GAIN, EatWell Global, and the Scaling Up Nutrition Business Network to capitalise on the opportunity that workforce nutrition presents: it provides guidance to employers and businesses looking to provide healthy meals and snacks to their employees, with step-by-step guidance to help employers get started.